Norway, Mid Peninsula Welcome Back 1st Home Track Meets in Nearly Decade
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
May 15, 2026
NORWAY — It had been quite a while since Norway and Rock Mid Peninsula had been able to host a track & field meet.
That changed last week as Mid Pen hosted a triangular meet Thursday, and Norway held its invitational Friday. Those marked Norway’s first varsity home meet in nine years and the first complete meet at Mid Pen since 2019.
Norway debuted its rebuilt track during its junior high invitational April 28.
“Everything is all set, thanks to our referendum,” Norway boys coach Al Trudeau said. “It’s great to be able to host a meet. Our students, physical education instructors and community members will be able to use it. We’ll be set for a long time. We have lots of help, which is awesome.
“Our guys did all right. Our sprint relays went real well.”
Rapid River’s boys, who ran at Norway for the first time, won with 142 points. The Rockets were followed by Bark River-Harris with 130, Florence-Niagara, Wis., at 70 and Norway at 69.
Rapid River’s lone first came on freshman Coen Smith’s personal-best jump of 5 feet, 10 inches in high jump, and junior Lane Olson was runner-up on a tie-breaker to BR-H freshman Samuel Varoni in pole vault (10-6) on a sunny and mild day.
“I was happy with all the guys,” Rockets’ coach Steve Ostrenga said. “Our depth came through. Taking three places in the 3,200 decided the issue. We had some adversity tonight. We had to scramble to put a 1,600 relay team together. Our guys said it was a good track, and it was a very quick meet.”
BR-H junior Gionni McDonough was a four-event winner, taking the 100-meter dash in 12.2 seconds, 110 hurdles at 16.9 and 300s at 45.63, and long jump at 19 feet, 11½ inches.
“I’m very happy with that,” he said. “The track is nice and bouncy, and the long jump area is really nice.
“Doing well as a team is really a nice boost for us.”
BR-H coach William Soper was also impressed with the newly-resurfaced Norway facility, and delighted by his team’s progress.
“It’s an awesome track,” he said. “I’d be happy to come back here.
“I think we’re developing more of a team mentality. The kids are willing to do anything to help the team. We got Ben Olson back from surgery, and Gionni just started practicing long jump Thursday. We’re trying to find people for events that will match our strengths.”
Felch North Dickinson captured the girls title at Norway with 106 points, followed by BR-H with 92 and Stephenson at 70.
Junior Aunika Lindholm provided the Nordics with victories in the 1,600 (5:58.04) and 3,200 (13:20.55), both personal bests.
“A lot of things went our way today,” Nordics coach Mike Roell said. “A lot of kids stepped up. They really competed. Aunika did a nice job winning the 1,600 and 3,200 and helping our longer relays take first. Aspen (Anderson) winning pole vault and going 1-2 in the 800 were also huge.”
Rapid River sophomore Victoria Coppock recorded her first varsity victory in the 100 hurdles (18.75).
“This is very exciting,” she said. “I haven’t been able to practice because of softball. The track was quite nice, and this is probably the best weather we’ve had.”
At St. Nicholas, the Mid Peninsula Wolverines got part of a meet in last year, but it was cut short by poor weather conditions.
“It went great today,” Mid Pen coach Carl Brunngraeber said. “We appreciate Superior Central and Big Bay de Noc coming over here. We tried to do a meet here last year, then it started raining and weren’t able to get it all in. What we’re trying to do is bring some of this back. I like the idea of having a smaller meet and giving the kids a chance to do something different. We’re hoping to make this a small-school invitational.”
Mid Pen sophomore Lewis Holmes took the 100 (11.98) and 200 (25.08), and eighth-grader Siwal Holmes won the 300 hurdles (48.49) on a revamped asphalt surface.
“I think I could have run a faster time, although it was exciting,” Siwal Holmes said. “It’s still a hard surface, but I like it. I know I have to raise my foot a little more and work on technique.”
Mid Pen senior Hope Brunngraeber captured girls shot put (30-9) and discus (107-7) in a meet for which team scores weren’t kept.
“It’s really nice to have a meet at our school,” she said. “It feels good to finally throw here in my senior year. It was also good to have people come here and watch us throw.”
Superior Central’s Kendra Peterson took the girls 400 (1:11) and 800 (3:07.81), slightly more than a second ahead of senior Addie Frusti in the longer race.
“I ran behind Kendra because she’s my pacesetter,” she said. “It felt good to have a meet over here. It was fun. The weather is good, ideal for distance running.”
John Vrancic has covered high school sports in the Upper Peninsula since joining the Escanaba Daily Press staff in 1985. He is known most prominently across the peninsula for his extensive coverage of cross country and track & field that frequently appears in newspapers from the Wisconsin border to Lake Huron. He received the James Trethewey Award for Distinguished Service in 2015 from the Upper Peninsula Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association.
PHOTOS (Top) Norway welcomes back a home track meet with its junior high invitational April 28. (Middle) The long jump pit is prepared during the school’s first meet in nearly a decade. (Photos courtesy of Norway-Vulcan Area Schools.)
Chip Hills Caps Perfect Season Perfectly
May 31, 2014
By John Leerar
Special to Second Half
GRAND RAPIDS – Remus Chippewa Hills coach Sally Schafer wasn’t optimistic about her team’s chances halfway through the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 2 Finals on Saturday at Houseman Field.
“Things weren’t going the way I thought they had to go the first half of the day,” Schafer said. “I thought we were going to have to score in the upper 40’s to win. And even with a perfect second half of the meet, that wasn’t going to happen. It was going to be an OK day.”
When asked where she thought her team would finish at that point in time, Schafer responded, “Third or fourth.”
However, the lower-than-anticipated point total turned out to be enough, as the Warriors won the meet and their first MHSAA Finals title with 34 points. Lansing Waverly was second with 31.
Chippewa Hills did not win a single event, but scored points consistently enough to build a lead.
“We scored in six events today, which is the most we’ve ever scored in since I’ve been coaching,” Schafer said. “All of the girls came through at the end and ran consistently across the board today. We faltered a little bit, and were disappointed here and there, but when it came down to the last race, they got it done and did what they needed to do.”
The race Schafer was referring to was the 1,600 relay, the last event of the afternoon. The Warriors came into that race 10 points ahead of Waverly, the top seed for that event. Chippewa Hills had to place in the top eight to secure the championship and did so, finishing sixth in a time of 4:03.87.
Senior Megan O’Neil was a major contributor for Chippewa Hills, scoring 16 points by herself with second-place finishes in the 800 and 1,600 runs.
“It hasn’t sunk in yet that (the 1,600) was Megan O’Neil’s last race,” Schafer said. “But she’s going to go on to bigger things. I’m sure she’s very happy her high school career ended like this.”
Schafer also made sure to give credit to her entire team. “This championship still took our entire team. We had 10 girls here today who all helped us win,” she added.
Chippewa Hills finished the season unbeaten.
The LP Division 2 1,600-meter record fell at Houseman Field. Junior Karrigan Smith of St. Johns edged out the previous record of 4:51.67 in that event, running a 4:51.53 while beating the rest of the field by more than two seconds.
“It’s such a great feeling,” Smith said. “This is the first state championship in my school’s history for the girls, so it’s a really important moment for me as well as my team. I’m just so thankful to be here.
“My goal during the race was to stay behind the lead girl and kick it in the last 200 meters. I’m just happy that I could execute today, and it’s a great feeling. I had no idea I was even close to the record until my teammates informed me.”
Spring Lake also made its presence known. The sister duo of Allie and Gabriella LeRoux took first and second, respectively, in the pole vault. Allie, a senior, finished with 11 feet, 8 inches, while her freshman sister Gabriella vaulted 11-5. Junior Carlyn Arteaga won the 800, finishing in 2:16.09.
“I’m happy with my performance today,” Arteaga said. “I’m glad everything worked out. My best time before this was 2:17, so this is a PR (personal record) for me. I qualified for the 400 as well as this race, but I decided to just concentrate on the 800. I wanted to go all in on this race and it paid off. I just started running the 800 as my main event this year, so I’m very happy about how it turned out.”
Senior Brittany Casey of Zeeland East dominated the field events, winning both the shot put and discus. She threw 43-1¼ in the shot put and a 138-10 in the discus.
“I’m still in shock about today. I’m so excited about my performance,” she said. “I was especially satisfied with my discus throw, which was a personal record by about six feet.”
Other field winners include Charley Andrews of Battle Creek Harper Creek in the high jump and Gabriella Collins of Mount Morris in the long jump. Race winners include Alison Rich of Haslett in the 100 hurdles, Josie Yesmunt of DeWitt in the 100 and 200 dashes, Zoe Eby of Carleton Airport in the 400, Hannah Coverdill of Marine City in the 300 hurdles and Kaela Theut of East Grand Rapids in the 3,200 run.
PHOTOS: (Top) Remus Chippewa Hills’ Kylie Schafer runs her leg of the 3,200 relay Saturday at Grand Rapids Houseman Stadium. (Middle) Chippewa Hills celebrates its first MHSAA championship. (Head shot) Karrigan Smith, St. Johns. (Click to see more from RunMichigan.com.)